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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals

AT&T confirmed rumors that it will spin off Liberty Media Group as a separate company by 2Q 2001. AT&T acquired Liberty when it purchased TCI from then chairman and CEO, John Malone, aka "The Doctor." Malone has since sat at the head of Liberty, its tracking stock struggling under the downward tug of AT&T.

Heeding the broadband services demand, BroadJump has introduced a solution that bridges the gap between broadband service providers' networks and subscriber homes. Banking on analyst forecasts that 16.5 million U.S. households will have broadband access by the end of 2004, BroadJump created the Service Fulfillment solution.

New iTV technologies top the list of to dos for Liberate and nCUBE. The two companies have hooked up to integrate nCUBE's VOD technology with the Liberate TV Platform software for lower-powered digital set-top boxes. The collaboration aims to help network operators increase their speed-to-market time of iTV services.

Lucent 's new product, VitalAccess, is many things to many providers. VitalAccess is a multi-vendor software product broadband service providers can utilize to deliver Internet access, multimedia and VOIP to their customers. VitalAccess is a subscriber activation and management system that helps cable and broadband wireless operators, and DSL and fiber-to-the-home providers cut provisioning cos...

Corning and Cisco have joined forces to deliver IP optical solutions to their service provider customers. In this non-exclusive alliance, the two companies will form teams to develop pre-engineered optical solutions consistent with customer requirements. A little like optical fast food. Products included are Cisco's core products, Corning's optical fiber products, including LEAF and MetroCor, a...

(I should just rename this e-newsletter the OpenTV/Motorola Daily.) Motorola has also inked a deal with Wind River. The company will be a value-added reseller, integrating its MCT5100 M-DTV module with Wind River's VxWorks real-time operating system. The technology lets OEMs develop digital TV and set-top box products with improved time-to- market.

OpenTV and Motorola are taking their steady relationship to a more serious level. The two companies have agreed to a multiple-year, strategic relationship to focus on accelerating iTV deployments worldwide. The new joint venture's services will include cable and satellite integration, testing and development.

The market has welcomed OpenTV with open arms. The interactive television software company said its iTV middleware is now deployed in more than 11 million set-tops worldwide, with 1.7 million of those added in 3Q 2000. A large portion of those boxes were deployed through EchoStar. Cable operators have deployed more than 700,000 OpenTV enabled set-tops.

PhatPipe, a broadband tech company focusing on industrial real estate customers, has deep pockets. The company has promised BreezeCOM it will buy $5 million in BreezeCOM wireless infrastructure equipment, products and services. The two companies will focus on tailoring tech solutions that were previously too pricey or unavailable for PhatPipe's industrial tenants.

It's always nice to see a "customers first" philosophy. Competitors High Speed Access and ISP Channel have reached a deal to transition some of ISP's customers to HSA. ISP Channel, owned by SoftNet, is restructuring many of its existing broadband service contracts and ceasing operations with some MSOs, after deciding to concentrate its resources on Aerzone and Intellicom, SoftNet's broadband wi...

Cisco has released the uRB10012, the latest in its line of Universal Broadband Router cable modem termination systems. The uBR100012 increases intelligence at the edge of the network, enabling more new services over the network. It is currently the only platform providing unlimited scalability. "The uBR100012 is good for the customer - Cisco is providing even more headroom for them, product man...

ZyXEL, a supplier of Internet, Intranet and Extranet access solutions, has picked the MicroTuner MT2030 single-chip tuner for ZyXEL's new cable modems. The Prestige 941 Plus modems are two-way DOCSIS-based cable modem bridge/routers. The modems are aimed at SOHOs, telecommuters and home users. Because of the "always on" feature, customers can access the Internet instantly, eliminating the need ...

Com21 has launched its "My Neighborhood Broadband," an Internet-based e-commerce tool. Partnering with CableLabs as a Go2Broadband affiliate, Com21's Internet site will assist potential subscribers in determining whether cable modem service is available in their areas. Customers visiting the My Neighborhood Broadband site will be able to check on the availability of service in any U.

Deutsche Telekom has decided against buying Qwest because it has all it can handle with its takeover of VoiceStream Wireless. The largest telecom company in Europe, German-owned Deutsche Telekom is financially tapped from the VoiceStream acquisition and not expected to make another offer on any company any time soon.

Wavexpress and Eagle Wireless will demonstrate their take on iTV at Comdex 2000, Nov. 13 – 17 in Las Vegas. Eagle's Webflyer 500 digital set-top will be on display and running Wavexpress' technology showcasing the benefits for data broadcasting in a digital network. This hardware/software cocktail offers video, music and games in a secure environment.